Questions on Muscle Health?
Contact a Platinum Advisor for personalized expert advice and assistance in designing a muscle supplement program for your horse’s specific needs.
800-553-2400
Nutrients for Equine Muscle Support
Key Ingredients for Building Muscle Strength
Special care and attention to the diet of an equine athlete can influence performance, muscle recovery and overall well-being during training and competition. There are several nutrients in addition to a well-balanced forage-based diet that can offer support for muscle tissue. Meeting general protein requirements in the diet is a fundamental muscle need, but equally as important is ensuring that the full amino acid profile is available as they are the building blocks for all proteins.
-
Arginine and glutamine
are other amino acids that are needed by the equine athlete. Arginine is a precursor to nitric oxide which helps to regulate blood flow. Glutamine assists in the synthesis of nitric oxide. Nitric oxide is a key factor in performance, due to its role in blood flow regulation and delivering nutrients to exercising muscles.
-
Branched Chain Amino Acids (BCAA),
leucine, valine and isoleucine, regulate muscle protein by stimulating the formation of lean muscle while also reducing its breakdown. BCAA supplementation may be very advantageous for the equine athlete as heavily exercised horses have lower serum levels of branched chain amino acids present, most likely because they are broken down for energy.
-
Carnitine
is a versatile nutrient for the equine athlete, and supplementation in training horses appears to enhance athletic performance. Carnitine is crucial for the oxidation of fat which has the potential to reduce the accumulation of lactate, a byproduct of strenuous muscle activity. Because of this, carnitine reduces muscle damage and soreness after exercise, possibly by causing vasodilation.
-
HMB
a leucine metabolite, has been used extensively as a strength and power aid for lean tissue growth as it has been shown to prevent exercise-induced muscle breakdown in the horse.
-
Lysine
is a critical amino acid in muscle health. Its role as the first limiting amino acid makes meeting levels of lysine in the diet very important. It is called “limiting’ as it is likely to be the first amino acid that is deficient. All amino acids are necessary to make proteins and build muscle tissue, so making sure that there is enough lysine in the diet is of primary importance.
-
Omega-3 fatty acids
are well-known to offer systemic anti-inflammatory benefits, but they also offer muscle-specific support as well. Omega-3 fatty acids may prevent muscle wasting by augmenting increases in muscle mass when used in conjunction with exercise.
-
Vitamins C and E and Selenium
Supplementing exercising horses with antioxidants, such as vitamins C and E and selenium, increases exercise tolerance, reduces airway inflammation and helps modulate exercise-induced oxidative stress.
-
Whey protein
is a rich source of essential amino acids and is often used for its anabolic effects when combined with exercise and training.
Supplementing for Muscle Health
Equine Wellness & Performance
Platinum Performance® Equine, Platinum Performance® CJ & Platinum Performance® GI
Platinum Performance® Equine, Platinum Performance® CJ and Platinum Performance® GI provide a rich source of omega-3 fatty acids that saturate your horse’s cells as well as potent antioxidants, vitamin C, vitamin E and selenium.
Muscle Support for Strength & Recovery
Designed for the athlete, Myo-Vet® is a potent formula that supports lean muscle mass and helps to minimize post-exercise muscle breakdown, which may be helpful in supporting athletic performance, recovery, and improved muscle strength.
For Equine Athletic Performance Recovery
Platinum Renew® helps maintain muscle strength, supports performance recovery, and reduces soreness and fatigue by providing amino acids (the building blocks of protein) and antioxidants, and replenishing healthy levels of electrolytes.
Supporting Muscle Health From the Inside Out
“In a recent pilot study we conducted, we were able to demonstrate that Platinum Renew helps a horse recover after exercise by speeding up the dissipation of lactic acid in the blood stream.”
—Phillippe Benoit, DVM, DACVSMR, Equisport Consulting
